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Sunday, May 07, 2017

Epstein devised a five-year-plan to go all the way from worst to first. Starting with the draft. Most teams take young pitchers but Epstein chose hitters. He said hitters don’t get hurt as much.

Theo Epstein: Not only were they safer bets, but we also felt we could change the culture a little bit easier by building around talented position players with high character.

Bill Whitaker: So you’re looking for more than just their skills. You’re looking for character.

Theo Epstein: Yeah. Because baseball’s a game with a ton of adversity inherent in it. And players that tend to respond to adversity the right way, and triumph in the end are players with strong character. If you have enough guys like that in the clubhouse you have an edge on the other team.

Bill Whitaker: You said, “I used to scoff at character.” What changed?

Theo Epstein: I just saw over the years that the times that we did remarkable things, it was always because players didn’t want to let each other down. Players wanted to lift each other up.

Bill Whitaker: So how do you determine which player has the character traits you’re looking for?

Theo Epstein: Find out how he treats people when no one’s looking. You go talk to their girlfriend. You go talk to their ex-girlfriends. You go talk to their friends. You talk to their enemies.